The Glorious Global Mishmash of Cape Town’s Modern Food Scene

Cape Town is among the most scenic cities in the world. It unfurls gracefully down sloping hills to the foot of a crescent-shaped bay, backgrounded by grandiose crags and towering plateaus. The stunning natural panorama is the result of tectonic plates that collided here over 200 million years ago. But the South African capital’s status as a thrilling culinary destination is a more recent phenomenon. I’ve arrived here off a 15-hour flight from New York, and I’m eager to frequent the best restaurants in Cape Town.

To help guide me on a culinary tour, I’ve tapped local tour company Travel Designer, which specializes in crafting bespoke adventures. Founder Ozzy Yerlikaya has cooked up the perfect day to satiate my growling stomach.

“I’m going to introduce you to my dear friend, chef Karen Dudley,” he says. “She’s a legend around here, and she will keep you properly fed.”

Easy enough. Outside my hotel room at 11 a.m. the next day, the air is brisk and briny in the seaside suburb of Bantry Bay. A white Land Rover idles near the Ellerman House, where I'll be residing. The boutique lodging is nestled inside an original mansion built in 1906 with breathtaking views of the water. A woman sitting shotgun beams and waves excitedly at me. She steps out and greets me with a hug.

“Come on in,” she says. “We’ve got a lot of eating to do.”

Karen Dudley is a notable chef, culinary entrepreneur and, today, my tour guide. She used to run a restaurant called the Kitchen, which gained international attention after a visit from then-First Lady Michelle Obama back in 2011. Dudley was forced to permanently shutter her vegetable- and sandwich-centric luncheonette during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, she’s pivoted to producing a line of weekly rotating sauces and dressings for amateur and professional cooks.

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“Capetonians are demanding of their cuisine,” she explains as we drive past the colorful houses of the Bo-Kaap district. “They want options, they want generosity, and they're coming out to play. This is exciting eating. Cape Town cuisine is a celebration of our story—of great flavor, contrast, and texture.”

That story starts in 1652, under much grimmer circumstances. After the Dutch established a port here, the region became a primary stopover point for vessels traveling between Europe and the East Indies. Slaves, political prisoners, and exiles were brought in from various parts of Africa and Asia, and their disparate cultures converged into a singular lineage wholly unique to the region. They're known as Cape Malays.

According to Dudley, food is an essential form of expression in Cape Malay culture. She's brought me to one of her favorite markets in town, Atlas Trading Company, to help familiarize me with some of the associated flavors. Strolling the aisles, I encounter aromatic ingredients—spices, sambals, chilis—many of them building blocks for the fish curries and so-called bredie stews (commonly made up of slow-cooked tomato, potato, and lamb) that are staples of the cuisine.

I can savor sensational examples of these dishes at Bo-Kaap Kombuis, a quaint family-run eatery nearby. Alternatively, Dudley is keen on the Marsala steak sandwich served at Bo-Kaap Deli. Nestled on buttery brioche, the meat is sliced thin, slathered in sauce, and topped with an egg. I’m trying hard not to finish it, since Dudley is eager to bring me back to her home kitchen to share fresh-baked bread alongside a smattering of handcrafted jams, spreads, and butters.

On the ride back to her neighborhood, she reveals how Cape Town cuisine has evolved in recent years. “Traditionally there has always been an emphasis on meat and venison, but people now understand that any chef worth their salt has to be able to make magic with vegetables,” she says. “I love that we're stepping into complexity and honing essential quality rather than generally reaching for what might please.”

The modern movement in Cape Town’s food scene really took off with the opening of Fyn in the city center in 2018. The folks behind the Japanese-meets-South African hybrid don’t even bill themselves as chefs, but as “lead explorers.” Their experimental approach recently landed them the 37th spot on the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list—the highest placement for any eatery across all of Africa.

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At Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia, chef Ivor Jones plays around with coal-roasted seafood on a four-course tasting menu set amid the vines. Salsify at the Roundhouse, in Camps Bay, focuses on locally sourced flora and fauna, rendered with modern flair, in a historic 18th-century building, which formerly served as a country hunting lodge for then-governor of the Cape, Sir Lord Charles Somerset. (The region’s deep, complicated history is present everywhere, even on dining adventures.)

“We've embraced all the fabulous produce we have here, and chefs are cherishing and elevating ingredients in new and exciting ways,” Dudley says. “There's a confidence and a pride in our food identity, which has us playing on a global scale.”

At the Pot Luck Club in Woodstock, for example, an international spectrum of tapas can be enjoyed out of an old converted biscuit mill, under the imposing shadow of Table Mountain. Dudley identifies the curious South Africa-meets-Nordic mishmash of Ëlgr, a casual hang on Aloof Street conceived by celebrated chef Jesper Nilsson, where dishes vary from beetroot curry to pizzas.

“Oh, you also have to try the breakfast sandwich at Egghead,” Dudley remembers in a torrent of recommendations. In fact, we haven’t even driven more than a few miles of city road and my guide has already assigned me a laundry list of must-eats: Blondie for Mediterranean-inspired, vegetable-focused fare, paired alongside creative cocktails; Hemelhuijs for organic ingredients in a hip downtown setting; Oranjezicht Market on the weekends at the V&A Waterfront, a mixed-use venue holding more than 80 food stalls and craft shops.

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I’m doing the mental math to see if I can hit them all in the three days I have remaining in Cape Town. It feels daunting, in the most luxurious kind of way.

“Also the Athletic Club & Social,” Dudley adds. “They have wonderful drinks, great jazz, and good Cypriot-influenced food.” The menu is a medley of mezze, spanakopita, and pan-fried squids.

We drive past a storefront sign in Athlone promising the city’s best Gatsby. The signature local sandwich, named for but having really nothing to do with the F. Scott Fitzgerald character, is a beastly creation, typically consisting of a French loaf stuffed with Vienna sausage; fries; eggs; South Asian pickle sauce; and peri peri, a spicy paste blended from African bird’s eye chilis. The outsize sub originated in this neighborhood over 45 years ago, so it’s not uncommon for local spots to lay claim to the supreme iteration. I ask Dudley to name her favorite example, expecting a deliberative, drawn-out answer.

“Wembley Roadhouse,” she responds immediately. “It’s right near here, actually. Let’s stop in.”

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My first inclination is hesitance. After all, we're en route to this talented chef’s home kitchen, where a trove of handcrafted flavors awaits. But Dudley assures me that any sort of tasting can only be elevated by the presence of a great Gatsby.

It’s hard to argue with her. After a dizzying array of zigzagging flavors in such a short time—all shaping the unlikely but mighty food destination that Cape Town has become—I’ve learned to embrace whatever surprise comes next. Generosity, of both gastronomic pleasures and spirit, is king here.

And it turns out, breaking bread with a dining companion is easier when you’re feasting on a sandwich the size of your forearm.